皮猴 (pí hóu) — hooded fur overcoat, fur parka; (colloquial, affectionate) naughty child, little monkey

Definition

A folk word built from 皮 ('fur, leather') + 猴 ('monkey') with two unrelated senses: literally a fur parka, and figuratively a lively, mischievous child (like calling a kid a 'little monkey'). Colloquial and affectionate in both uses.

noun
hooded fur overcoatfur parka(colloquial, affectionate) naughty childlittle monkey
Measure word · 件

Examples

  • 皮猴。
    Dōng tiān chuān pí hóu hěn nuǎn huo.
    Wearing a fur parka in winter is very warm.
  • 皮猴。
    Nà ge xiǎo pí hóu yòu pá shù le.
    That little monkey climbed a tree again.
  • 皮猴。
    Nǎi nai gěi wǒ zuò le yí jiàn xīn pí hóu.
    Grandma made me a new fur overcoat.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

皮pífur/leather
猴hóumonkey

皮 fur/leather and 猴 monkey form the coat sense, suggesting a bulky hooded fur garment; the naughty-child sense is a playful comparison.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犭Written in full as犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
侯
侯hóu猴hóu(r)
Same sound today

猴 pairs 犭, the animal part, with 侯, which gives the sound.

Open 猴 →

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